A website devoted to citizen journalism has won two business awards. BlottR won the Innovative Business of the Year in the Startups Awards 2011 and has also picked up the ‘most disruptive technology’ award at the Tech City UK Entrepreneurship Festival

The Newspaper Society is to merge its communications and marketing departments under the current comms director Lynne Anderson, it announced today. The move follows the decision by marketing director Robert Ray to leave the NS in January. Johnston Press chief

News teams from a regional newspaper publisher raised thousands of pounds when they took part in the ‘Movember’ fund-raising drive in aid of prostate cancer charities. The sports desk team at Archant Norfolk raised an impressive £1,075 and a further

The Society of Editors has announced it is to stage the Regional Press Awards again next year following its successful revival of the event last May. Full details of the 2012 event will be announced in January but the date

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Tips on choosing a journalism course

Emma Clark, former marketing and communications manager for the National Council for the Training of Journalists, offers her advice on choosing between journalism courses.
Recently I've attended numerous careers fairs around the country, meeting students of all ages keen to break into journalism - whether that be in newspapers, television, radio or magazines. And of course, all students want to know which journalism course they should go on and whether they need NCTJ qualifications.

A quick look at the trainee job ads on HTFP demonstrates the importance of gaining the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism. Many adverts require candidates to have, or be awaiting results for, their NCTJ Diploma.

Trying to break into the industry without it makes a tough task almost impossible. With the rise in tuition fees, choosing the right journalism course is even more important than ever and students need to be sure they are learning the vocational skills required by employers, enabling them to hit the ground running when they enter the newsroom.

Employers know that an NCTJ-trained applicant will be able to find and construct stories, understand media law and ethics and be able to take down an accurate shorthand note when required. And contrary to popular belief it is not just the regional press looking for these skills, but nationals, online and broadcast too. Recent Sky Sports News schemes, for example, have been looking for practical skills including a minimum of 100wpm shorthand.

Student journalists can complete their NCTJ training in a number of ways - FE colleges and independent centres offer the Diploma in Journalism as fast-track and academic year courses, while universities offer it as part of undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications. All of these journalism courses lead to the same NCTJ qualifications and meet the same standard, allowing students to pick the one that's best for them.

It's no secret that the NCTJ has an exacting standard, and this applies not just to the qualifications but also to the course provider. All NCTJ-accredited courses have to work incredibly hard to meet the requirements in the same way that students have to work incredibly hard to achieve the gold standard. This ensures the NCTJ logo acts as a meaningful kitemark for quality journalism training.

About

HoldtheFrontPage is a news and jobs website for journalists everywhere with a particular focus on the UK regional press. The site attracts around 70,000 visitors a month and has more than 18,500 followers on Twitter.

News

HTFP carries all the latest news about UK journalism and our news archive of more than 26,000 stories comprises a unique online record of the UK regional newspaper industry since the site was first launched in February 2000.

Resources

HTFP contains a wealth of information about the UK regional press including a comprehensive directory of daily and weekly newspapers and websites and a series of other features designed to help journalists in their work.